Freeformers secures £1.2m investment from Impact Ventures UK

Funding deal will boost workforce transformation firm’s platform development and social impact initiative

Freeformers, which helps companies and individuals develop the digital mindset, skills and behaviours required to navigate the future world of work, has raised £1.2m of investment from leading UK social impact fund Impact Ventures UK (IVUK).

The investment by IVUK is significant in bringing substantial growth capital to a major profit and purpose business with a focus on workforce transformation to support its scaling both in the UK and internationally.

Founded by Gi Fernando MBE, Freeformers helps companies and individuals prepare and react to the changing world of work, providing the necessary skills to manage workplace challenges generated by flexible work, automation and digital transformation.

Freeformers works globally with corporates and institutions – including HSBC, Barclays, Tesco and the Ministry of Justice – to ensure that their workforces are adapting to the mindset and behaviours needed to stay ahead of startups and competitors and to succeed in a fast-moving marketplace. The company also helps individuals who want to increase their chances of being employable, successful and productive in a digital world.

The London-based company plans to use the funds to invest in capability building, sales and marketing acceleration and to capitalise on its market leading platform development.

The investment will also be used to boost its social impact initiatives; such as its ‘one_for1’ social impact programme that trains less advantaged young people for free.

The investment from IVUK will deliver a major boost to our profit with purpose focus, and support our mission to provide large organisations with a diverse, data-driven​ ​workforce​ ​analytics​ ​model​ ​and​ ​platform​ ​to​ ​help them​ ​grow​ ​and​ ​allow people​ ​to grow​ ​with​ ​them.”

Kevin Bone, Partner at IVUK commented:

“IVUK is delighted to support Freeformers’ continuing mission to​ ​build a​ ​digital​ ​economy​ ​for​ ​all​ ​by​ ​creating​ ​a​ ​future​ ​workforce​ ​now. We believe that Freeformers’ unique services and platforms will deliver significant societal impact and global market potential by ensuring that no one is left behind in the fast-changing world of work. For many, the rapid changes in the skills required for fulfilling employment is a source of great insecurity and can lead to dramatically negative life outcomes. By arming large workforces with a digital mindset, individuals are empowered to​ ​continuously upskill.​”

Central to Freeformers’ current offering are two key technology platforms – Freeformers Pulse and Freeformers Learn, which deliver solutions at scale and measure people transformation in real time. Freeformers Pulse offers self​ ​and​ ​peer assessment, while Freeformers Learn allows employees to access ​coaching and ​digital​ ​learning​. Both are connected to Freeformers’ Future Workforce Model™, which helps Freeformers design experiential learning programmes and use data rich measurement to help people achieve their work life goals.

The investment from IVUK comes in parallel with an announcement on Monday 22nd January that Freeformers is partnering with Facebook on the social networking site’s ‘Community Boost EU’ programme, which aims to create a digital economy for everyone. The partnership will see Freeformers deploy its Future Workforce Model™, to upskill 300,000 people across six European countries over the next two years, expanding its global footprint.